Every now and then an invention completely redefines a genre. The iPhone. The microwave oven. Snuggies. The Kel-Tec KSG. While the 14+1 round shotgun doesn’t instantly render current home defense scatterguns obsolete—wait. There’s no getting around it. It does. The KSG has at least three major advantages over any other home defense/tactical shotgun currently on sale to U.S. consumers. For one thing, the Kel-Tec KSG sends a message to all other home defense shotguns: get small or go home . . .
Thanks to its bullpup design (the action sits behind the trigger group) the KSG is one seriously short shotgun. The Floridian firearm stretches a scant 26.1 inches from stem-to-stern. For comparison, The Remington 887 Nitro Mag Tactical is a 39″ gun. O.F. Mossberg’s shortest tactical scattergun is the 590 Special Purpose (fans of The Jerk need apply). That piece tapes-in at 38 and 3/8″. The least length-challenged Benelli SuperNova measures 45″ tip to tail.
Unless we’re including stockless shotguns or the Mossberg “chainsaw”—both of which are better suited for cinematic bartenders than besieged homeowners—the Kel-Tec KSG is roughly half as long as your garden variety one-shot stopper. The obvious indeed unassailable advantage: negotiating tight spaces in your home. Which is made of tight spaces: narrow hallways, stairs, rooms filled with obstacles and doorways. Especially doorways.
With a traditional home defense shotgun, going around a corner sucks. Either you’ve got to lower the barrel (raising your response time) or risk having the bad guy grab that big tube and disarm you. Violently. Gabe Suarez recommends removing that threat, violently, by shooting the BG off the end of your gun. Good advise but good luck. You’re better off forestalling that possibility by simply running through the “funnel of death” as fast as possible. Sound like fun? I didn’t think so.
If you want to walk around your house holding a shotgun, you want the KSG. You need the KSG. You can “pie” a corner (gradually cutting off slices of the visual angle by moving across the space) with your gun ready to rock and roll. You never have to lower the barrel. There’s also a psychological advantage; you tend to move a lot faster and more nimbly shouldering a shorter shotgun. Equipped with an “eyes open” red dot scope like the Aimpoint PRO below you can clear your house while maintaining maximum situational awareness. How great is that? Um . . .
Ideally, you shouldn’t be “clearing” your house. In the event of a home invasion, you should take a defensive position with your shotgun with your loved ones behind you. If you have to retrieve said loved ones before assuming said defensive position, a handgun is a better companion. It leaves a hand free to open doors, gather kiddies, dial 911, fend off or strike a blow, or do the New York Times crossword puzzle while you wait for the police to arrive.
Then again, as my man Phil Fear says, a shotgun is the most devastating close quarters combat (CQB) weapon known to man. Even if we discount the accuracy advantages of a long gun over a handgun, the difference in stopping power is enormous. There are very few meth heads or Mexican cartel soldiers who can withstand a direct hit from a shotgun blast (assuming proper self-defense shells). Two? Gilding the lilly.
So how about fourteen rounds? Make that fifteen.
It’s hard to imagine a self-defense problem whose solution requires fifteen shotgun blasts. But one man’s excess is another man’s reassurance. Besides, the way extra ammo capacity doesn’t cost you anything (other than range ammo and cleaning). Or does it?
I’m sure no member of TTAG’s Armed Intelligentsia would ever short-stroke (i.e. jam) a pump action shotgun in the heat of battle by failing to vigorously cycle the action through its full range of motion. But people do. All the time. If you don’t place your support hand at the very end of the KSG’s forward grip (unlike the pic at the top of this post) you WILL short-stroke this shotgun. At that point it doesn’t matter how many rounds you loaded before the SHTF. You’re screwed.
Kel-Tec’s molding a plastic “stopper” to idiot-proof the gun. This idiot short-stroked the KSG even with my support hand in the proper position. When attempting to unload the KSG for transport, I somehow managed to get a shell behind the ramp that feeds the shells into the barrel(s). I sorted it out by tipping the KSG on its nose, prising the feed ramp away from the back of the gun with a knife, and shoving the shell back into the tube from whence it sprang with my index finger. Not a combat-friendly process.
Some gun gurus warn that running the KSG is a generally complicated business. I find the behind-the-trigger thumb safety completely intuitive and ergonomically sound. Loading the KSG is simple enough: turn the gun over, insert seven rounds in one tube, flick the tube selector switch and shove in seven more. If you want that 15th round, rack the slide before loading the first tube.
And here’s where things get a little complicated . . .
Let’s assume you keep one in the pipe, as God intended. When it comes time to fire, you turn off (push in) the KSG’s safety, aim and pull the trigger. You rack the slide the eighth time and pull the trigger. The gun goes click. You reach back with your strong hand or reach over with your support hand (see: demo below), flick the tube selector and . . . nothing. You need to rack again. As in rack, flick, rack, fire. If you’ve fired a “normal” pump action shotgun all your life, it’s a thousand-round reeducation process.
For some reason, everyone who “plays” with a KSG feels the need to loose all fifteen rounds as quickly as possible. When I joined the quick-as-you-can mega-munitions club, an acrid (if sweet smelling) cloud of spent gasses wafted straight into my face, causing me to tear up. “You poor baby” or “a challenge to tactical awareness and a long-term health hazard.” We report, you deride.
There’s one more compensatory—if equally fantastic—-bonus: the ability to load slugs in one of the KSG’s tubes. If you need to switch from close-in to long distance love (or lack thereof), a flick of a switch and you’re good to go. As long as you remember to rack the slide. You could load the KSG with a mix of lethal and less lethal rounds. What are you meshugga?
You’d have to be crazy to fail to see that the KSG rewrites the rule book for home defense shotguns. There’s only one real reason not to buy this shotgun: Kel-Tec’s well-earned rep for questionable reliability. OK that and price. $880 is a large chunk of change in a genre known for cheap and cheerful.
But that’s about it in the “why not” department. The KSG makes sense on so many levels it’s a “why” gun. As in “why have such a long, heavy, ammo-limited shotgun for home defense when you can have a short, lightweight mondo-ammo firearm?”
SPECIFICATIONS
Caliber: 12 gauge
Barrel length: 18.5″
Capacity: 7+7+1
Weight empty: 6.9lbs
Weight loaded: 8.5lbs
Length: 26.1″
Height: 7″
Price: $880
Availability: Promised “the end of 2011”
RATINGS (out of five stars)
Style * *
It’s ugly—especially for those of us raised on the mucho macho stylings of combat shotguns. But like a Citroen DS, it’s so ugly it’s beautiful.
Ergonomics (Carry) * * * * *
A concealable, 14-round shotgun? What’s not to love?
Ergonomics (Shooting) * * * * *
No more recoil than a standard shotgun; maybe less perceived recoil due to the fact that you naturally tend to jam it into your shoulder.
Reliability * * *
We experienced a couple of jams and the unloading kerfuffle does not inspire confidence. Nor does Kel-Tec’s rep for quality. Still, the KSG felt a lot more solid than the SHOT Show prototypes and it’s a pretty basic system.
Customizable * * * * *
The rail is your oyster. Or something like that.
Overall Rating * * * *
The advantages of a 26.1″ 15-round shotgun are as obvious as they are profound.
Any chance that one of those dudes gets to be a participant in the creepy cracker knock out game? I’m betting no!
The lower rail of the forend where a foregrip is recommended is PLASTIC unlike the upper rail which is metal. Within the first 10 shots using a sig sauer stoplight foregrip, the lower rail shattered, fragmented, and broke off. Very very disappointed. Otherwise, the gun shoots great.
One question for you…
Is the Sig Saur stoplight foregrip MIL-1913 standard?
Im on a SWAT team and placed an order 9 months ago when these were first announced. I can not find them anywhere!!!!! Gander Mountain told me their national distributor is back ordered over 1400 of them! Great looking gun..would love to have one….but they estimate 1-2 years to delivery! NOT GOOD!
in the video you switch the tube selector switch then your other hand goes back up to the rear of the rifle again, is there a reason why? Just curious…..
“Style – It’s ugly”?! Are you kidding me? That sci-fi style is one of the main draws for me. Mr. Farago, welcome to the year 2012. Your idea of “beauty” is so antiquated, I bet you find flint-locks sexy too. I think this KSG is super-tech looking and I absolutely think it is sexier than ANY other shotgun I’ve EVER seen. This is also the same reason I got my Walther PPS and P22 — two other very attractive weapons with a futuristic/contemporary/modern styling to them.
What laser combo’s have folks tried with success? Looking to prep now for when it arrives-
I find it very attractive and stylish, actually. Not that such things are important to me, of course. 🙂
I’d contacted Kel-Tec shortly after the ShotShow and asked if they would consider looking into designing the production gun so as to fire the short 1 3/4″ shells, and they promised to send my note to engineering. So, I was curious how things turned out. I was told last month (Feb 2012) it will indeed cycle the short shells (which I believe are actually 1 1/2″ OAL–at least in the case of the Aguilas). To me this would make the gun even more attractive for home defense–the short shells still provide far more punch than any ‘normal’ SD handgun, but make shooting a tiny 12ga just that much more tolerable, and impressive down at the range. Capacity would be 22 rds, I believe.
Although I’ve not had the pleasure of shooting the KSG in any configuration, I’ve seen it most often with the vertical foregrip–which looks painful to me on any gun. I much prefer to see the KSG in the config shown here–standard no vertical grip.
I’m happy to wait a couple of years to see if these actually get wrung out and if the price drops at all, but I have to think that if Kel-Tec can actually get this thing produced successfully, it’s going to retain that premium for quite some time.
Semi-auto with automatic tube advance would be slick. Tubes on top, barrel on bottom would be slick.
This gun is a steaming pile of you know what..It jams constantly and any foregrips attatched to the cheap rail will crack the rail. Junk junk junk…
You obviously haven’t fired this weapon…I’ve put many rounds through this and nothing has shattered….go shoot your GLOCK idiot
It looks nice but paying $880 for a Kel-Tech is like paying $50,000 for a FIAT. And in an economy where Remington cant sell their 870 for $350? La la land again!
“Dr. Dave”
how many Kel-Tecs have you owned?
I have two that I love, and have never had any issues with. I can’t speak to their warranty support because I ‘ve never needed it!
I was down at Frontsight putting 1000+ rounds of .308 through my RFB in the desert, while every one else in my heat had AR-15’s were jamming, malfunctioning and had to clean daily. I didn’t have to touch my RFB untill I got back from Vegas.
nice to have a weapon that is designed with brilliance and ease of use, just because a weapon worked will in WWII or any other situation doesn’t mean it is still the best out there…..
great weapons, I would love to own one of everything they’ve made but they are hard to get ahold of.
Well i like it and i have one on order …I will comment on it when i get it and tell everyone what i think about ???? But u gotta say it dose look Bad Ass….Lol
I was born and raised in SoCal, and I think it is shameful that people go into conniptions at the mere presence of a firearm. I would rather have the CHOICE to OC or CC, much like what clothes I want to wear. Throughout human history the OC of arms has been accepted as normal, only in the last 50-60 years has OC diminished in presence. As the saying goes… An armed society is a polite society.
Oh, and for the record I am 26 yr old asian male.
Does “shelter in place” mean you’ll be arrested if you take the dog for a walk? I’ve never heard of this term until recently. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.
UTAS UTS-15 12 Ga Pump Action Tactical Shotgun
Solves all your problems you have with a KelTec!
http://www.goldenstatetactical.com/UTAS-UTS-15-Pump-Action-Shotgun-Case-p/utas.htm
Check out video on above link.
The most expensive firearm purchase I have ever made!
The first firearm I would grab if things went to Hell!
Until they come out with a semi-auto, this is my first choice in home protection shotgun!
It should be used to water board MDA…….
Cops get accused of being bullies on this very website… hmm… go figure. Generalization FTW!
I’ve had my KSG for about a month and so far it has performed flawlessly! I’ve pumped at least 500 rounds of various brands and type through the gun and the only hang up occurred when I failed to fully cycle the slide. I have a forward vertical grip attached which helps tremendously in ensuring I don’t short shuck the gun. I also added a red-dot sight which is outstanding for quickly drawing a bead on target. I can’t wait to try pumping 24+1 Aguila mini slugs through my new favorite gun! Nothing like hitting bullseyes with slugs! In short, I love this gun!
Was that first video for real….
I could go on for hours, agreeing, and disagreeing with everything about this so I’m just going to bite my tongue really friken hard
Does anyone know how many of these KSG shotguns have been sold since they came out? mshean1955@yahoo Thanks in advance if you answer to my email.
they are almost at 100,000 sold
I’ve been shooting shotguns since I’ve been nine years old (tactical, skeet, trap, etc), and I have never experienced a “short-stroke.” I also have never heard of anyone experiencing one, which begs the question: how are you F-ing up the most reliable firearm platform (barring single-shot/ over-under) in existence? It sounds like you all need to train your body as much as you train your shooting skills. Rack that thing like a man.
For some reason I cannot find a snap cap that will cycle any of my semi-automatic guns. 😉
I own 2 mossbergs, both of them 930’s the tactical & SPX, both of them have been reliable & I’d put them up against ANY shotgun…except the AA -12
This is a great review and i was wondering if you could tell me what you thought about this review as well http://gunivore.com/shotguns/kel-tec-ksg-shotgun/ i have really wantedto buy a kel tec ksg shotgun and i need help with my decision on whether or not this is the shotgun for me.
this is an awesome gun and i am really interested in its accessories. but i also stumbled upon this other article that i wanted your opinion on http://gunivore.com/accessories/top-5-kel-tec-ksg-accessories/ because i want to make sure before i make the purchases.
Sophie,
As a certified armorer and weapons specialists I am advising you to stay away from Kel-tec. They do not back their warranty. Period. I ordered the KSG and out of the box fired one round and jammed. Had to disassemble the entire gun to disarm and remove jammed round. The mechanism inside the action was too long, preventing the weapon from chambering the next round. I called Kel-tec and they said I had pay to have the gun shipped to them. Shipped it to them and 3 months later after several phone calls they finally got back to me. They would not ship the gun back without proof of ownership. Wait what? I paid and sent the gun to them and now I have to prove it is mine? I had to go to the gun shop where I purchased it and had the owner fax them the transaction. Then I had to pay for shipping back to me and pay for the parts and labor to fix the gun. Some warranty…Stay away from Kel-tec. You want a real shotgun? Buy a Benelli or Remington or even a Mossberg…all have a no questions asked warranty and will never jam when the SHTF.
As a bullpup fan I was super excited to finally purchase a KSG from a local gun show. I had many chances to but surpassed it for other firearms until I finally decided it was time to get one.
This was nearly 2 months ago. It wouldn’t cycle or load shells, and visibly had metal shavings from the machining process in the receiver. I sent it back and after a month of no news, I called them just to find out they haven’t even looked at it yet.
After having it for a month!
Greatly disappointed so far. I knew I didn’t like most of the KelTec pistols but I thought I would really like the KSG. Unfortunately I’ve never even been able to shoot it yet.
My wonderful wife just picked one of these up from a buddy that owns a pawn shop for $650. I love it. It’s an upgrade from my 12ga coach gun. (noises in the night gun) So I’ve incresased my ammo capitacy from 2 to 14. Whats that 700%? Anyway
Kel-Tec KSG is a very interesting firearm. It made a small revolution in the world of pump action shotguns.
My experience (limited though it is): I purchased my KSG a week ago (Aug2017 for $660) and finally found time to visit the range. I got the model chambered for both 2 3/4″ and 3″ shells because I liked having the versatility. Everything went as expected. I got the KSG for all the reasons others have mentioned, so I won’t discuss that. It’s light and balanced, and it’s a fun gun to shoot. But, I encountered two problems: one expected, one not. First, when firing the 3″ shells, approx one third of the empties got hung up in the ejection area, which seemed to be a pretty tight space to handle the longer shells (the shorter shells ejected flawlessly, by the way). They’re easily cleared with a hooked finger inserted into the open end followed by a pull downward–but nonetheless–it’s an issue about which potential owners should be aware. The second issue I was already aware of, given my pre-purchase research: the ejection port is directly above the wrist of your trigger hand. Ejected shells come out hot & fast, and hit an area about 1 inch behind the base of your thumb. No big deal if you’re just shooting a box or two, but I can imagine it would get very sore for sessions lasting longer than that. A long-sleeve jacket or shirt should resolve the problem. Overall, I’m very happy with the KSG.
Lack of faith and decency might explain a lot of crimes. However, in Lanza’s case, I think it was more likely a lack of sanity.